The Poohsticks drawing by E.H. Shepard made a world record price of £314,500.
There was a new world record price for a book illustration at Sotheby’s this evening when a Winnie-the-Pooh Poohsticks drawing by E.H. Shepard sold for £314,500. The original ink drawing of Christopher Robin, Piglet and Pooh on the famous ‘Poohsticks’ bridge had been estimated at £100,000-150,000. It made a new world record price for any book illustration at auction.
First published in A.A. Milne’s celebrated The House at Pooh Corner in 1928, and having formed the frontispiece for this (and many subsequent) editions, the drawing can be counted among the most famous book illustrations of the 20th century. It had been in the same private collection since being acquired at Sotheby’s nearly 40 years ago.
The previous auction record for any book illustration was £289,250 set by Beatrix Potter’s “The rabbits’ Christmas party: The departure” at Sotheby’s in 2008. The previous auction record for any E.H. Shepard illustration was £139,250 set by “Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump” at Sotheby’s in 2012.